Mercury must be in retrograde because I have been feeling SUPER out of the loop these past couple of weeks. For one, I was completely unfamiliar with the sewphotohop hashtag until it started showing up all over the new (public) instagram account I started that is dedicated to my TRY CURIOUS lifestyle (a more in-depth post about that is on it’s way, but in the meantime you can follow me here!) Once I saw all my favorites like Heather of closetcasefiles and Erica from Erica B’s Style posting great photos, I wanted to dive right in and join them, but it was already several days into the month-long process and I was too far behind. But in addition to that, I thought this would be a great opportunity to read/look/learn/be inspired instead of immediately joining the social media fray. I enjoyed participating in the #memademay challenge for the first time this year, but I don’t want to get in the habit of adding my voice to so many choirs that I can’t even understand the music anymore. Hm. That was…a weird analogy that I just made up. Apologies. But the right sentiment is there. With so much access to social media, it’s really easy to want to make a lot of noise just to keep up and feel like you are an active part of all the hub bub. Which is totally okay! But it’s also okay to take a backseat and absorb all the wisdom and insight that others are offering.

Okay, so the sewphotohop hashtag had been underway for days before I even knew what it was, and then I notice everyone in sewingblogworld talking about this pattern bundle offered by Sew Independent, an awesome tiered package of PDF patterns by indie designers for a really great price- the more money you spend, the more patterns that come in your package, and a percentage of the proceeds are given to a charity called the International Folk Art Alliance. Apparently this is the second year they have done this, and not only does your money go to an awesome organization, but you are (or at least I was) introduced to several indie pattern designers that you may not have been familiar with before. To be honest, NO, I DO NOT NEED ANY NEW PATTERNS. However. I do love celebrating and supporting designers in the online sewing community, and I also think it’s nice to get pushed out of your comfort zone every once in a while- I usually stick with what is familiar to me, so this was a nice way to get some new blood flowing into my craft room.

Last weekend some friends and I went to the Rose Bowl flea- it was my first time in a while, and I made sure to stop by the fabric and notions vendor who is usually set up in the same place. I’m not sure if her fabric is actually vintage or just old, as in, kept folded in a drawer for a super long time. Either way, the fabric is of great quality and priced better than most of the stuff for sale at the flea. I got about 5 yards of fabric for less than $20. I also scored a lot of beautiful glass and vintage buttons still stapled onto their original cards. I ignored my normal rule of not buying any fabric without having a specific idea of what to make with it because the fabric was so cheap and so vintage looking- I knew it would be perfect for a lot of different projects. And when I got home, I realized that the Bonnell Dress from Dixie DIY (included in the Sew Independent pattern bundle) was just such a project!

The Bonnell Dress has a lovely, simple shape with some interesting details: cutouts on the waist with a higher jewel neckline on the front. This, coupled with the traditional dirndl skirt and a thin waistband, give you a lot of room to play with the design elements. I went super simple with this on my first make, but now that I have sewn it up and seen how a) it fits like a dream and b) it’s got a modern-meets-classic look to it in a very ModCloth kind of way, I really want to make it again using some contrast prints or color blocking.

The fabric I used for this dress is a lightweight cotton, which is soft but still has some stiffness to it, and that lends itself to the nice body in the skirt. I lined the bodice with the self fabric since I had so much of it, and I only made one adjustment to the pattern- I graded from a size 2 in the bust to a 4 in the waist and hips. I should have left the whole thing as a straight 2 because I ended up taking it in at the waist since it was too big.

The bust lines fit me beautifully and the length is spot on. This dress was cut out and sewn together in a total of about 5 or 6 hours (probably the fastest garment I have ever made from a woven material), and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. The only thing I will change about this dress when I make it again is to make the pockets deeper. I love that this dress comes with pockets at all, but they seem designed more with the intent of putting small items in them as opposed to resting your hands inside of them (am I the only person who never puts things in her pockets besides her hands??)

I am pretty surprised at how well this dress fit me. The woman behind Dixie DIY, if she uses her own measurements to draft her patterns, must be my perfect body doppelganger, which makes me want to make every single thing she ever designs. It’s so exciting (and quite a privilege, I know) to be introduced to a pattern maker that designs clothing that fits you right out the box, and I (selfishly) wish DixieDIY continued success as a designer in the sewing world!